from the war, they were getting married in droves, and bella bridesmaid skinner a household in the united states so many words he married in skinner's bridal satin. it catapult the company to a whole other level of success. now, the company survived until 1961. it was 113 years after skinner founded in 1848. and the extraordinary impact the company had throughout its existence was such that reader's digest actually includes william skinner in the middle of the 20 center on a list of some of the most influential englishmen to land on american soil. and reader's digest at that time has the largest readership and the country, second only to the bible. i mentioned earlier that one of the questions that writers are asked is, so what's your book about? shortly thereafter they will ask, how did you find your story? and how i came upon this story have to do with my family. william skinner was my great-great-grandfather. here is an image of him around the age of 30. he just lost his first wife, nancy. he is a widower and his photograph with his two young daughters. he also just opened his silk mil